November 22nd, 2007
Yiddish community activism on the Main
By Christopher DeWolf // 2 Comments
WHAT? "Hirsch Wolofsky, un demi-siècle d’activisme communautaire yiddish sur la Main," a lecture by Pierre Anctil, director of the University of Ottawa's Institute of Canadian Studies
WHEN? Saturday, November 24th, from 3:00pm to 5:30pm
WHERE? Club Espagnol du Québec, 4388 Saint-Laurent Blvd., near Marie Anne
HOW MUCH? $10 regular, $5 students, includes Friends of Saint-Laurent Blvd. membership
This Saturday, the Friends of Saint-Laurent Boulevard will be presenting a special lecture by Pierre Anctil, one of Quebec's foremost Jewish historians, on Hirsch Wolofsky, the founder of Keneder Odler, Canada's foremost Yiddish-language newspaper, and Yiddish community activism on the Main. Here's more on Wolofsky from the Friends:
Hirsh Wolofsky arrived in Montreal from his native Poland in 1900, at the beginning of a period of massive Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe. At the time, the city’s Yiddish-speaking population was rapidly increasing. Wolofsky, who had been educated in a traditional milieu, immediately recognized that a Yiddish newspaper would help Jewish Montrealers to adapt to their new country and at the same time provide a structure that would allow the preservation of the culture of their countries of origin. In 1907, the Keneder Odler (Canadian Eagle), a daily newspaper in Yiddish, was established by Wolofsky. Over a period of several decades, and in particular between the two world wars, this newpaper and its publisher inspired the creation of an impressive network of major cultural, educational and religious institutions. Its headquarters were at 4075 Saint-Laurent Boulevard (just north of Duluth).
Anctil's lecture will be followed by wine and tapas and the Friends of Saint-Laurent Boulevard's annual general assembly. You need to become a member to attend the lecture and meeting, but it doesn't cost much: $5 for students and $10 for everyone else. More information can be found on the Friends' website. Call Valérie at 514.286.0334 or email amis@boulevardsaintlaurent.com to RSVP.
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Comments
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I'm just going with the title of the lecture: Un un demi-siècle d’activisme communautaire yiddish sur la Main. I think the distinction here is that the community activism is not just Jewish, but Yiddish-language.
Yiddish community activism ... minor point: Yiddish is a language, not a community. (Actually, most Yiddish speakers don't even call it Yiddish, but "Jewish" -- Yiddish is simply the Yiddish word for Jewish. See also "German", not Deutsch, "Spanish", not Espagnol, "Arabic", not 3araby, etc. But such are the beautiful inconsistencies of a living language!)
Comment by Disparishun
November 24, 2007 | 6:59 pm